Shoes - Is It Worth It To Go Designer or Deal?

So from time to time (ok, more often than not) I look around online to see what the latest trends in shoes are (more admittedly for my own personal obsession). I found a really sexy pair at DSW that just struck a cord with me because of the contrasting vibrant colors. Then I realized I had very similar shoes. The only real difference to me was the price. Can you tell which is the designer brand ($999 to be exact) and which is the deal ($60)?

Take a look and leave a comment:

Color Blocking – No Matchie-Matchie Here!

This season is all about color blocking. That’s just a fancy way of saying stick with two or three bold colors and stack them. For example, as you see in the picture of me below, I’m wearing a white tank top, burnt orange skirt and aqua earrings. Umm, aqua? That’s right. These three colors don’t seem to go together, but they do. When you ‘color block’, it draws the eye up and down the entire length of the outfit, making you seem slimmer and taller (and I need all the help I can get in the vertically-challenged arena!) It would seem more natural to match the earrings to my skirt, but in actuality it chops those sections of the body and the eye can’t easily glide up and down your frame. So, stay away from matching colors and go for something a little more unexpected. I do have burnt orange earrings I could have easily worn with this outfit, but I think this gives it a more updated look and it gives an old outfit a new twist. If you stop and think about your accessories (that maybe you haven’t worn in a while), I think it will give you a fresh look this fall by mixing some colors that you wouldn’t usually pair. Fall is here and with that means more layers, so you have more of a chance to pair some interesting color palettes together!

Side Note: If you don’t think you would even know where to start, stay within the same color family and wear different shades of the same color together. 

Holiday Jumpsuit – Fit and Flair!

So for this entry I want to talk about a few different things. First, I want to talk about the Jumpsuit craze that will soon be overtaking the streets. Second, I want to use the jumpsuit to illustrate the two things that are critical to making an outfit look amazing on you – fit and focus.

Jumpsuit:

I found this jumpsuit at Bebe for $140. I also found a three-tiered metallic  (original $40, got it for 40% off + $25 off my entire purchase) necklace but it does NOT go with this outfit, but I’ll tell you why in a minute – oh, and I’ll include it on another post so I can show it off!)  The jewelry I have on is from Forever 21 - $8 for the emerald green drop earrings and $9 for the gold/emerald green bracelet.

In deciding what to wear for a friend’s office Christmas party (at a swanky West Hollywood hotel), I had to make sure I looked glamorous, yet classy (and still feel sexy, because that’s what makes me feel the most confident).  Looking at this outfit on the rack, I didn’t think it would do much for me. But when I tried it on, I loved how it showed off my assets by making me look taller (a one piece is slimming and elongating) while tightening me at the smallest part of my waist with a soft leather belt. The leather details along the edges brought an edge to the outfit that gave it a rock n’ roll feel, and yet it had a structured, straight-lined look to it that made it look classy and glamorous. The neckline is my favorite part, because it was a deep-V, but allowed me to wear a bra to give me a little extra cleavage (which as a small-chested woman, I always approve of some umph).  This was the focal point of my outfit and everything I wore as accessories merely brought the eye back to that area.

Accessories:

I decided to put my hair up in a high bun (again, making me look taller), with some sexy red patent-leather shoes, and simple (monochromatic), yet bold, jewelry that didn’t take away from the jumpsuit, but served as perfect accents. These dangly earrings draws the eye back down toward my chest. I could have mixed my metallics (silvers and golds), but I didn’t really have any long earrings that worked as well as these emerald green ones.  Now, I did NOT want to wear the three-tiered necklace because it would have taken away from the focal point of my outfit – the clean V of the neckline.  The type of outfit to wear with that kind of necklace is where the necklace is the focus. I decided to also keep my makeup monochromatic (bronze eye shadows, nude, shimmery lipgloss (I thought about wearing a red lipstick, but again, it would have changed the focus to my face with bright red lips and big, bold earrings) and a shimmery bronze with a touch of light pink to my cheeks.

Jumpsuit As The Example:

Tailoring: Getting your clothes tailored to fit you, even if it’s just a hem will make an outfit look as if it were custom made for you, not to mention it will make you look very put together (and also like you spent a fortune on the outfit, even if it’s just a hem).

Focus: Picking a focal point of your outfit will ensure that your eye is drawn to the most dramatic or flattering part of your figure.  If you make sure everything else compliments (and doesn’t overpower) that focal point, it will show off your shape wonderfully, because it will draw the eye to that one point (if the eye were drawn to multiple points, you would just look wider, or worse yet, a hot mess).

So to recap:

           1. Jumpsuits are IN this season (get one with some interesting trim or detailing

           2. Tailor your clothes

           3. Make ONE thing the focal point of your outfit and accessorize around it